Genk's turn to try and catch out Chelsea

Chelsea FC have made their customary strong start in the UEFA Champions League and in their first meeting with KRC Genk will be looking to extend an unbeaten home record in the group stage which stretches back eight years.

Previous meetings• As well as the first meeting between the teams, this is also Genk's maiden experience of opponents from England.

• All six of Chelsea's previous fixtures against Belgian sides have produced a decisive scoreline and in each case the losing team failed to score.

• The Blues have won all three home games, the first of which was a 1970/71 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final – en route to lifting the trophy – when a 4-0 second-leg triumph against Club Brugge KV overturned a 2-0 loss in Belgium.

• It was a similar story at the same stage of the same competition in 1994/95, Chelsea losing 1-0 at Club Brugge before a 2-0 home success.

• In the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League group stage Chelsea were 1-0 winners against RSC Anderlecht thanks to an early Frank Lampard goal. Petr Čech, Michael Essien, John Terry, Didier Drogba were also in the home team while Anthony Vanden Borre lined up for the opposition. The Blues subsequently won 2-0 in Belgium.

Match background• Chelsea began with a 2-0 defeat of Bayer 04 Leverkusen, David Luiz and Juan Mata giving new manager André Villas-Boas a winning start in the competition and securing the London club's eighth matchday one victory in ten attempts.

• Lampard subsequently put Chelsea ahead at Valencia CF but a late Roberto Soldado penalty denied them all three points.

• Genk marked their return to Europe's elite club competition after nine years with a hard-earned point at home to Valencia in their first game. They then went down 2-0 at Leverkusen two weeks later.

• Last season Chelsea won all three home games in the group and reached the quarter-finals where they bowed out to Premier League rivals Manchester United FC, losing 1-0 at home and 2-1 away. That denied them a sixth semi-final appearance in eight years.

• Chelsea are unbeaten in 24 group stage fixtures at Stamford Bridge, winning 18 and drawing six since a 2-0 reverse at the hands of Beşiktaş JK on 1 October 2003.

• On their only previous participation, in 2002/03, Genk finished bottom of their group with four points. On their travels they lost 6-0 at Real Madrid CF but then gained draws at AS Roma (0-0) and AEK Athens FC (1-1).

• Genk reached the group stage in dramatic circumstances, the Belgian champions overturning Maccabi Haifa FC's 2-1 first-leg advantage in the play-offs to win by the same score in the return. With no addition to the 3-3 aggregate score in extra time it went to a shoot-out, Genk winning 4-1 thanks to two saves from goalkeeper László Köteles.

• Coach Frank Vercauteren stepped down after the first leg against Haifa. Pierre Denier was in caretaker charge for the return before Mario Been was appointed as Vercauteren's permanent successor on 30 August.

Team ties• Villas-Boas was in charge of FC Porto last season when they beat Genk 7-2 on aggregate in the UEFA Europa League play-off round, winning 3-0 away and 4-2 at home. Both Genk goals were scored by Jelle Vossen.

• Thibaut Courtois left Genk for Chelsea this summer, and was loaned out to Club Atlético de Madrid for this season.

• Romelu Lukaku, who is not in Chelsea's UEFA Champions League squad, played for Anderlecht until this summer. He scored 33 goals in 72 league appearances after making his debut in August 2009 before moving to Stamford Bridge.

• Lukaku is an international team-mate of Vossen, Kevin De Bruyne and Marvin Ogunjimi for Belgium.

• Been was an assistant coach at Feyenoord in 2003/04 when Salomon Kalou was at the Rotterdam club.

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